The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to techniques for detecting defective chargers commonly used to recharge batteries providing power to portable information handling system components such as notebook computers, personal digital assistants, cellular phones and gaming/entertainment devices.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to acquire, process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system (‘IHS’) generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
A battery converts chemical energy within its material constituents into electrical energy in the process of discharging. A rechargeable battery is generally returned to its original charged state (or substantially close to it) by a charger circuit, which passes an electrical current in the opposite direction to that of the discharge. Presently well known rechargeable battery technologies include Lithium Ion (LiON), Nickel Cadmium (NiCd), and Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH). In the past, the rechargeable batteries (also known as “dumb” batteries) provided an unpredictable source of power for the portable devices, since typically, a user of the device powered by the battery had no reliable advance warning that the energy supplied by the rechargeable battery was about to run out.
Today, through the development of “smart” or “intelligent” battery packs, batteries have become a more reliable source of power by providing information to the IHS and eventually to a user as to the relative state of charge (RSOC), as well as a wealth of other information. Such a battery is typically equipped with electronic circuitry to monitor and control its operation. The information is typically communicated to the IHS using a well-known System Management Bus (SMBus), which is widely used in the industry. Information pertaining to the battery being communicated via the SMBus connection may include data elements such as battery status, manufacturer name, serial and model number, voltage, temperature and charge status.
Batteries are well known that can monitor internal charge levels and shut down a load coupled thereto when the battery can no longer provide the minimum power required to operate the load. Upon discharge, the user typically restores the charge level of the battery by deploying a charger circuit during a recharge process. Typically, a charger circuit resides on a motherboard of the portable IHS. However, identifying charger circuit failures is difficult with the current circuitry available within the motherboard without duplicating some of the circuitry included in the battery. Modifying the motherboard to duplicate some of the circuitry is less desirable since it increases costs, utilizes additional space and generates more heat.
The battery may include techniques to determine if the charger circuit is operating properly, e.g., by determining difference in RSOC level over a period of time. However, such techniques may not be suitable for determining defective charger circuits. For example, a user of the portable IHS may observe in a system status portion of a display screen a battery icon being charged. The user may conclude that the battery is receiving a charge yet the battery is not being charged. That is, a relative state of charge (RSOC) of the battery is not increasing or changing substantially after receiving or being charged for a predefined time period. The typical response to the battery not being charged is to identify the battery as defective and request a replacement. Thus, defects in the charger circuit may often be misidentified as faulty batteries, which are generally returned to the manufacturer for a replacement.
An analysis of data on batteries returned to the manufacturer indicated that approximately 60% of such returned batteries were attributed to a ‘failure to charge’ defect. As a solution, the manufacturer typically verified the authenticity of the returned battery and sent a replacement battery to the user. However, the user usually reports the same problem with the new replacement. Eventually, the manufacturer concludes that the root problem may not be with the battery but may reside in the charger circuit. A new motherboard is sent as a replacement to fix the problem. This observation is confirmed after performing tests on returned batteries, which indicate that approximately 70% of the batteries identified as defective were in fact working to specification. Obviously, faulty identification of defective charger circuits as faulty batteries increases costs to manufacturers and decreases customer satisfaction.
Therefore, a need exists to provide a method and system for detecting failures in charger circuits, which are operable to restore the charge level of the battery during the recharge process. Additionally, a need exists to provide an improved technique to detect failures in charger circuits without substantially increasing costs, adding space and generating more heat. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a method for detecting failures in charger circuits to charge batteries included in an information handling system absent the disadvantages found in the prior methods discussed above.